New appointments to boost Aramco’s oil business growth

Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed

Aramco has named Nasir Al Naimi as president of its upstream business and Mohammed Al Qahtani as president of its downstream business.

Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser said he expected these newly created positions to help drive operational and financial performance and support the oil firm’s ambition “to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions across wholly owned operated assets by 2050”.

• Aramco’s profits are more than enough to fund Saudi Arabia
• Aramco profits drop 19% to $31.9bn in Q1

Al Naimi held the upstream executive vice president position since April 1, 2021, while Al Qahtani served as downstream executive vice president since September 13, 2020.  

Earlier this month, Aramco reported a 19 percent drop in first-quarter profits year on year, mainly driven by lower crude oil prices.

Net profit at the oil group slipped to SAR119.54 billion ($31.9 billion) for the first three months of 2023. 

Across the quarter, Aramco expanded its downstream business with acquisitions in China and Korea.

It also completed a $2.76 billion deal for US-based motor oil and lubricant maker Valvoline.

Nasser said plans to increase capacity would continue. “Our long-term outlook remains unchanged as we believe oil and gas will remain critical components of the global energy mix for the foreseeable future.”

Aramco was listed on the Saudi exchange in late 2019, raising $25.6 billion in its IPO. The company later sold more shares under a “greenshoe option” to increase the total offering to $29.4 billion.